• (Music starts. Camera pans over a reqular suburb from a bird’s-eye-view. It’s starts to zoom in a bit, and then comes to Tom’s school. It then scrolls inside Tom’s school, where it meets Tom.)

    tab Tom: (as narrator) After all my years of living, I was part of the crowd. Another person to add onto the immense population already being distributed across the globe. Another useless, insignificant human being, who's only purpose in life was striving to survive. That could be my description of life right there. A survival game, just living to...stay alive.
    tab If you think about it, it's true. From the moment you open your eyes when you enter the world, your playing a wild game of survival, with no rules or restrictions. You don't know why you're playing it. You just are.
    tab My pessimistic outlook of life didn't cease to stop. I always had my hands buried in my pockets, my head drooped down, only occassionally glancing at people with a dark look as they said "hi" to me with their cheery attitudes. Except, that's only how I felt until I met that one girl...
    tab It wasn't an abrupt relationship. In fact, it was a relationship five years in the making, from that fateful day in 3rd grade. She, who’s Mary, was a new kid, and always seemed to have a cheery word to say, or a funny joke to crack. She was pretty, with slightly wavy brunnette hair perfectly dangling down from her shoulders, and the most untainted face with beautiful sparkling blue eyes. She was the most outgoing person I'd ever seen.
    tab That's why I despised her.
    tab She was instantly revered and adored by other 3rd graders, as well as other younger kids. It was that sort of attitude, that sort of attention I loathed so much, though I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because she could be happy and content with life, while I could not. Maybe it was jealousy.
    tab But nevertheless, I always made sure to snarl every time she walked by and waved at me along with a polite hi and a charming little angel smile. It felt so good to put down the most popular kid in school, and it felt as though things would never change; that I would always feeling a burning feeling against her in a consistant pattern. This was how I was playing my game of life, I had thought. I don't care how they play theirs.
    tab And so, this passionate, raging feeling against my ultimate enemy of life continued to prosper and grow, until it all started to slowly change, starting on that monumental day for me, that day of March 17, 2006.

    tab (Music stops. Scene changes to Tom’s room in his house. Tom is on his bed, laying down, sleeping.)

    tab Mrs. Jacobs: (shouts) Tom, time for school!

    tab (Tom opens his eyes, and gets up. He looks at a mirror over his dresser and smiles, fastening his hair over his right eye. He gets dressed, and trudges downstairs without brusing his teeth. Camera follows him. His mom and dad are sitting at the table. His dad is reading a newspaper. His mom looks up at him as he starts for the door.)

    tab Mrs. Jacobs: (not surprised, but just comfirming) No breakfast?

    tab (Tom’s still looking at the door.)

    tab Tom: (uncaring) No.

    tab Mrs. Jacobs: Oh. Well, daddy’s going to test cars and important things like that. He’s gonna be gone for…

    tab Mr. Jacobs: (looks up from his newspaper.)A month. I’m going to Oregon.

    tab Mrs. Jacobs: Yes, and…

    tab Tom: (interrupts) So what?

    tab Mrs. Jacobs: (surprised) What? (Tom turns around to them.)

    tab Tom: You think I care? (Tom looks at his dad, expecting scolding. He only sees a nervous look, and his dad taking a deep sigh.)

    tab Mrs. Jacobs: (angry) Tom! Do you…

    tab Mr. Jacobs: (interrupts with a glum face and closed eyes.) Madeline…it’s all right. I…(Tom doesn’t stay any longer and opens the door and gets out.)

    tab (Camera follows him to the bus stop. Then the bus pulls in, and he gets in. A boy sits next to him.)

    tab Boy 1: Hey, Tom. Hey, um…did you do your homework?

    tab Tom: (still looking at the window.) No.

    tab Boy 1: Ok…Well, um…did you understand it? I mean, the math. You could come over to my house and I could help you. I mean—if—if you want…

    tab Tom: (looks back at him sternly) No. (Boy 1 looks away, and the conversation stops. The bus stops, and Tom gets off.)

    tab Tom: (as narrator) It seemed as though, even when I hated everyone, everyone seemed to like me. Or pity me. Either way, I hated it. In fact, I would actually have rathered them react in the opposite way to me. An uncaring way, just right back at me. Pity was something I hated, and something I thought I’d always hate. I guess that might’ve been one of the reasons I hated Mary. She always gave me bucket loads of pity, always saying hi to me in the hallways, always smiling at me, always asking me how I was doing. To tell the truth, I was pretty fed up with her, and I often put her down and tried to hurt her feelings. It felt good to watch her squirm.

    tab (Time changes, as well as the scene. Now Tom is in 6th hour science.)

    tab Tom: (as narrator) Science was my least favorite subject for several reasons. For one, I was at the front of the room, right next to the teacher. Also, Mary was in that class. And of course, I also hated it because I was bad at it. (Teacher hands back test. On Tom’s, there are red “x” marks and -1’s all over it, with a giant F at the top.)

    tab Tom: (as narrator) No, that would be a lie. I down right sucked at it. It was lower than my D- in Language Arts, and as you can imagine, that would mean it would have to be pretty low. (Teacher goes back to his desk.)

    tab Teacher: Most of you did well on the test. Most of you. (His eyes lock on Tom for a couple seconds, and then he looks away. Tom sighs, and stuffs his test in his binder.)

    tab Teacher: (continues) Now, I got more news. We’re going to start a project on the anatomy of the human body. (Students groan) This project will be a partner project. (A high-five and a “yes” come from the back of the room. Tom is still slumped in his chair.)

    tab Teacher: But I’m gonna be the one to choose the partners. (Another groan from the students. Teacher pulls a box of names.)

    tab Teacher: John McLin, Patrick Ghan…Heather Henderson, Leo Patricia…Tom Jacobs,(Tom slumps in his desk farther.)Mary Ar-Ark-Ar…”

    tab Mary: It’s Archibald. It means “strong” in German.

    tab Teacher: (looking up at her with a smile) Right, I knew that. John Jones, Ken Peterson…

    tab (Sound of teacher’s voice starts to muffle and quiet down, but is still audiable.)

    tab Tom: (as narrator) Mary…what were the chances of that? Nothing in my worst nightmares could’ve prepared me for that. Things weren’t looking good. My thoughts spiraled into pandemonian. How was I going to survive the rest of the project with her?

    tab Teacher: (after finishing drawing names) Now get with your partners and discuss your plans. The project will be due by the end of next week. (Students move to work with one another. Mary sits down right next to Tom. Tom glances away.)

    tab Mary: So, do you want to come over to my house to work?

    tab Tom: (looking at the clock) No.

    tab Mary: All right, how about your house?

    tab Tom: No.

    tab Mary: (confused) Ok…Well, we can work at the lib— (Tom gets up and looks at her, angry)

    tab Tom: (shouts) Shut up! (Teacher gives him the “stare”, and Tom sits back down.)

    tab Tom: (quieter, but still firmly.) We’ll work alone. I don’t want to work with you.

    tab Mary: (offended) But—but we have to work together. It’s a group project. (Tom thinks about it.)

    tab Tom: (defeated) All right. Whatever. Just don’t expect me to do all the work or anything…

    tab Mary: (with a smile) Of course not.

    tab Tom: (as narrator) So it all started. I was being thrown into catastrophe right at that moment, but I didn’t know that yet. All I knew was that I was going to hate doing this project. And I was.